Life As We Know It
by JellyfishSisters
Summary: The story of a group of teenagers who are struggling to survive against the Cordyceps Virus and, even worse, those who have survived it. Not following Joel and Ellie's story. Set in England and will hopefully be good... Enjoy!- Jook Tungsten
1. Prologue

**So, this is my friends fic. He's called Jook Tungsten and he's been interested in writing an apocalyptic story for a while. I told him to write a fanfiction so he can base his story in this world (makes it easier, because he can then use the plotline of the game as well, which he has played).**

**I don't really know what else to say, except say that he doesn't own the world- Naughty Dog, Sony Computer Entertainment and all those involved with the development of this game - and that we hope you enjoy!**

It was thought to be a small thing that wasn't really something to be concerned by.

America seemed so far away at that point that for us it wasn't thought of as something that could ever affect us. England was well known for having a tight control over its borders, so the concept that the virus could get into our country was almost unthinkable.

Unfortunately, that was our downfall.

After the first couple of days of the news reaching us, we had no idea that America had already fallen. Many had lost their lives to the cordyceps virus, others had lost everything in it. Even worse, England already had its first patients. We were all living on borrowed time, whether we knew it or not. It didn't help the government were silent about the whole situation. If people ever needed hope, it was then. And they left us. Even with society breaking down in the way it did, we made it.

Well, when I say we, I mean a few of who we started out with, and a few we picked up along the way.


	2. Here We Are

**So, this is chapter one, glad to see some views already. I have no clue how big the fandom is, so I can't tell whether it is good or not.**

**Anyway, here it is :)**

It was hard getting back into the swing of school, realising it was year eleven now and that our GCSEs would occur in less than a year. That was already enough to deflate our spirits. "I've been worrying about how they'll go." was the first thing I said to my friends one day.

"Don't worry, Logan," replied Clara. "We'll get the preparation we need."

Despite my concerns, I was still able to make light of a bad situation, a skill I still find useful today. "Yeah, if they continue to work out the percentage of marking they have done instead of marking more of our work."

Everyone chuckled. "And then they'll teach us how to work out the percentage of work we need to do instead of doing the work." exclaimed William.

Considering this was almost exactly what I had said previously, it was not as well received. But we still laughed for a while.

Alice, Clara and Louise engaged in their own conversation after that, while Hamish and William played games on their phone and Naomi continued to write notes in her notebook. This was how much of our free time was spent at school, and I always had choice of what to engage myself with.

Turning to face the girls, mostly because Will and Hamish were being dull, I listened into their conversation.

"My dad thinks that it's already in the country," Clara was saying, pushing her short hair out of her face, only to have it fall back in her face.

"Wouldn't we know about it already, then?" Louise countered, leaning forward in interest rather than sitting in her usual slouch. "The government and news are generally really good at informing the public about big things like this."

"I'm lost," Alice said, looking confused. "What are we talking about?"

Clara rolled her eyes, giving Alice an exasperated look. "I told you. The Cordyceps virus that the US was hit by and we haven't heard anything from them since the 18th. Do you ever listen to the news?"

Alice looked mildly annoyed. "Why should I? There is never anything interesting on it."

I leaned in, pushing into the conversation. "There's no need to worry about this. Viruses, like whatever this is, struggle to travel long distances."

Another skill I've always attempted to maintain. Although I was paranoid myself about the sudden appearance of the Cordyceps, I didn't want the others to keep a similar attitude. It's a key part of keeping others happy; no matter how terrified, worried or hurt you are, you need to keep a healthy and unworried appearance on the surface. It can keep a group motivated in the harshest conditions.

"Well…" Clara replied, looking thoughtful. "Think about the plague. That wiped out most of Europe in only a few months."

"That's the thing." Louise looked slightly relieved as the thought hit her. "The plague was a disease. This is a virus-"

"But, it's a virus we haven't seen before or experienced anything like it," I interrupted her mid-sentence.

She stuck her tongue out playfully before continuing. "I just think we shouldn't worry about it. There's one key factor; we are here. The virus is over there."

**page break**

That conversation had left me startled. Fortunately, there was only one lesson left in the day: Biology. And guess what? All of the students wanted to ask about the Cordyceps and whether he thought it could reach us.

"That's enough about the Cordyceps!" He yelled after about 5 questions. "We have work to do and only just enough time to do it."

"But sir!" someone piped up. "Could it actually cross the borders and reach us?"

Mr. Larson looked annoyed. "The truth is," he mumbled. "Many of us are probably already infected. And those who aren't, most likely will be soon."

**page break**

As much as I try, I truly cannot remember what happened around me after that point. I believe I blanked out for a few minutes, lost only in a familiar place I'd seen too many times before; my thoughts. Everything ran through my mind. What if I was already infected by this disease that caused America to lose contact with everything? What if my friends were already infected and I wasn't? What would happen to them? Would they die?

We had no idea what this virus was capable of, as it had only appeared a few days ago. All we were told from American authorities was its name and that the infected patients slowly grew slightly more aggressive to those around them.

Then we lost contact.

That was what scared me the most. The unknown. It's the root of most fear, but no-one can explain why.

**-Jook Tungsten**

**UPDATE- Yeah, I'm slowly editing these chapters, fixing spelling mistakes and other silly things and just in general tidying the story up. Thanks to BlueSky509 for the tips (I can't do those page breaks, no matter how hard I try, which is really annoying, but there we are). If you still spot errors, PM/Review us and I'll fix them- _Jook and Irene :)_**


	3. And Those Who Aren't

**So, I suppose it's getting views, which is good, but some reviews to know what people think about the story would be great... Please?**

**Disclaimer- All rights go to the makers of Last Of Us concerning the Cordyceps Virus and other things I have borrowed for the story...**

"Logan?"

The voice rattled through my head. I looked up to see Clara staring straight back at me.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

For what seemed like an eternity, my mind stayed blank. I finally opened my mouth and said "I'm fine. There's nothing wrong."

Blatantly lying to my friends? Yeah. Keep them happy.

Chris and Luke were already scrawling words across their paper and, by the looks of it, Clara had finished her work already. Chris was a good friend, however he was rarely around in our freetime, and Luke… Well, Luke always said "It'd be easier to ask what isn't wrong with me."

Of course there wasn't actually anything wrong with him.

Looking down, I noticed the worksheet was about symbiosis. "Here we go again." I stated.

"Don't do it," suggested Clara, "You can copy mine later if you need to, just be careful."

"I'm fine, seriously." I replied, "I was just lost in my thoughts."

Luke looked up. "What exactly were you thinking about?"

"Porn." Chris interrupted.

Luke and Clara laughed.

"No!" I shouted at them, but before I could finish Luke made his own statement.

"Don't worry about it Logan. Sometimes I think about those too."

Every Biology lesson. Always some joke made about another part of the female body. At least I never did any work in them. I just sat there and talked.

I looked at Luke aggressively. This just seemed to make him laugh even harder. "Well you know what guys?" I asked them sharply.

"Yes we do," said Luke. "You're going to tell us to go f-"

"What's that Luke?" Mr. Larson called across the classroom.

"Sorry, sir," he stammered. "I was just asking my fellow classmates if the Cordyceps virus can survive on fir trees."

"Fir trees?"

"Yes, sir. Fir trees." Luke responded.

His pathetic attempts to worm out of these situations always made me laugh. This time, however, it seemed to have worked.

"Well considering that fact that it's a virus that affects humans, I doubt it. Now, I'd say you should be doing your work instead of talking about the Cordyceps!"

Mr. Larson did not appear happy to have heard that name again, but it surprised us to hear him snap at the class, as he was generally quite cheerful. I shrugged it off, blaming it on a bad night's sleep, and focused back on the conversation Clara was now having with Chris.

**page break**

It was still quite warm as it usually was in September and we were all waiting for our buses to arrive in the school yard. I noticed the distinct lack of the word "Cordyceps" and anything related to it. It seemed all was forgotten.

Looking back on it now, that was the first mistake we made.

We had been discussing the idea of a weekend camping trip for a while. Whilst I can't remember why we ever thought it would be a good idea, or who decided to birth the idea, it was definitely one of the key reasons we survived initially.

"So, it's this weekend then?" Will was confirming. He was the oldest out of all of us and, in his head, it made him think he was the person in charge. I just went along with it at the time, but I don't think he would have been able to cope with what I've had to deal with now.

**page break**

The next day, to our shock, Mr. Larson was off sick. This was the first time in a few years this had happened and, with the threat of the Cordyceps virus, everyone had come to the same theory. He was infected. It was all I heard that day, and all anyone talked about. It was worrying considering the statement he made the previous day. "Many of us are probably already infected. And those who aren't, most likely will be soon."

It chilled me slightly to think that the Cordyceps could now actually be inside of Britain. Plus, if he was infected, how many more were there? To this day, I still don't know what happened to Mr. Larson, but I can guarantee it's the same grisly fate that met most of the human population.

"Do you think it's really here?" asked Clara.

Our Biology lesson hadn't changed much. I think we may have learned more without Mr. Larson there.

"I'm going to be honest," I said. "I don't know."

I regret my decision to say that. For the rest of the day, she looked petrified, twitching at any sudden movements the rest of us made. I had never seen anyone act in that way before.

"I'm sorry, but it's the truth." I added. "I can't change the world."

She looked down at the floor. "The government are working to fix this though, right?"

"Yes," I lied, hoping she didn't look up for another few seconds.

The news did little to comfort her, but it was the best I could do with the slip up I made previously.

"Logan. She okay?" Luke asked.

"I'm fine." Clara mumbled in response.

I shook my head at him, and assuming he got the message, continued reluctantly with my work.

**page break**

At lunch, Clara was still shaken by my mistake. Nothing anyone else said could comfort her, and everyone else was starting to get to the same level of fear.

"But we're still going camping tomorrow, aren't we?" Will asked.

"I don't see why not," I replied. "Might be good for Clara to get away from the city."

My light joke made no impact on her. She still sat there, shivering, looking down at the floor.

"She's got worse," said Hamish.

We all looked at him with the same "You don't say" expression.

"I was just saying," he added.

Even Alice and Louise could do little to help her. If anything, I thought they would have at least got her talking, but nothing. All I could do was hope the weekend would bring good news...

**-Jook Tungsten**


	4. A Small Step

**No death yet... Sorry...**

**Disclaimer- All rights go to the makers of the Last Of Us...**

Saturday morning. The beginning of when everything began to change, no matter how little we knew. I just arrived at Hamish's house, Clara and Will were already there waiting. She seemed as normal as before, the shock had clearly worn off. "There you are!" Will exclaimed. "We were getting worried you weren't going to show up-"

"He was worried, we still have 20 minutes until we are supposed to leave," Clara confirmed what I already knew.

In those 20 minutes, Louise, Alice and Naomi showed their faces, and we were on our way into the Freymere Woodland.

**page break**

We found a clearing quite some distance into the woodland, and noted where we came from so as not to lose our way. The distance and some previous events meant that conversation was light, and only a few humorous comments were made, as well as the girls singing some disney songs, frustrating Will and Hamish.

Our tents were pitched by midday, and everyone was already exhausted. Luckily for them, no more travel was required. I was fortunate to have my own tent, but Will and Hamish were stuck together, and Alice and Louise also had to share. It was eerily quiet after the constant noise in the towns we were used to, but our own company was enough to brush that off. We felt safe enough around each other, but after the shock Clara went through the day before, we were all a little nervous.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I heard Naomi ask.

"Yeah," Clara replied, sounding less shaken than before.

I didn't hear the rest of the conversation, as Will came over to and started his own conversation.

"I don't know who's idea this was-"

"It was yours, dumbass." I replied swiftly.

Still boring," he mumbled.

He shifted a funny look my way and went back to Hamish. He had a fair point, however, we so far had nothing to do other than sit down and have uninteresting conversations. I decided to take charge for a few seconds.

"I'm going to go and take a look at our surroundings. Anyone want to tag along?"

Clara, Naomi and Louise stood up. The others looked thoroughly uninterested. We made our way back into the woodlands to search around.

**page break**

After about 5 minutes of silence, we came upon a stream. "Would you look at that!" I exclaimed. "I never thought I would see something as beautiful as this!"

"What about me?" Clara joked.

I looked round shocked that she had attempted a joke after the previous events. She truly was recovering from shock. I tried to make words happen, but all that came out was a sound of confusion and laughter. Everyone followed as we laughed for a brief moment. I followed the stream up through the forest with my party not too far behind.

"So what are we really doing out here?" Alice asked.

"I really just needed to get away from the depressing old men back at camp." I replied.

She looked at me confused for a few seconds before realising what I meant. She smiled briefly before asking again.

"What are we REALLY doing?"

I looked at her momentarily before giving a second response. "For something to do. I was fine back there, but everyone else looked really disappointed to just be sat there."

That seemed to satisfy her curiosity. We continued on before Naomi made a point.

"Do you know the way back?" she asked.

I looked around before my jaw dropped slightly.

"Yes," I lied.

I don't think they believed me, as Clara dropped to the floor in frustration and Naomi growled a little. Now I felt really bad.

"Back along the river?" I suggested in an attempt to redeem myself.

We made our way back along the bank, desperately trying to discover something we recognised. That was when we found it. An abandoned factory, which turned out not to be too far from the clearing we were already camping at. I was the only one to explore the ruin, and made it to the top floor with little difficulty while the others watched nervously. From there, I spotted our camp, and we made our way back there slowly and carefully.

It was starting to get dark by the time we got back, everyone who had stayed behind were looking nervous until we appeared from the branches. The transition of nervous to relief was never usually that quick, but they must've known we'd be back. After a few pointless conversations, we were cooking our meals so that we didn't starve out here.

"So who's having what?" I asked.

They all looked at me blankly until I realised everything was the same.

"I see." I said before exhaling heavily.

A few of them repressed some laughter, while others just let it out. I carried on cooking until it was over. I dished some out to everyone and we ate silently and rather awkwardly. I thought back to the events of the past few days. The appearance of the Cordyceps happening so abruptly in America and the short time it took for us to lose contact. The words of our wise Biology teacher who may or may not be dead from the virus by now, and the idea that the Cordyceps may already have infected my friends and I.

Pushing the thoughts aside, I went into my tent and slipped into an uncomfortable sleep, drifting in and out of consciousness. It was uneasy, and my dreams were of nothing else but my friends. They suffered in my dreams, and I will never forget the visions I had of them. The random biting, the blood, the darkness consuming them. I was glad to wake up the next day, regardless of what happened next.

-**Jook Tungsten**


	5. Wherever We Roam

**So, some mild swearing, but I guess you guys can handle that- I just prefer to warn people instead of getting angry messages later...**

**Oh, and death commences now... :)**

**DISCLAIMER- All rights go to the makers of Last of Us...**

After a night like that, anyone would be tired. And I was. I could barely think, and nothing was crossing my mind other than home. Because of the boredom that came from this trip we decided to make our way home earlier than planned, but not before breakfast was eaten. This time, everyone chipped in with preparation, partly from fear that I would screw it up in my dreary state.

"So are we all going straight back to Hamish's?" Will asked.

"Yes." We all replied, almost in exact unison.

We were all quite tired, and not in the mood for Will to start his attempts to take charge again.

We packed up our bags, took down our tents, and headed off. The walk felt like it took hours this time, and we were extra careful to take the correct route.

The buildings appeared in the close distance, over the tops of the trees. We were home. We arrived at Hamish's house and got ready to relax before heading to our own families. Hamish was first through the doors, calling to his parents as he entered. No reply. I could see the fear in his face establish itself. "The car is still here, but my parents aren't," his voice was shaken and sounded slightly disturbed by these facts.

"Have you checked upstairs?" Clara asked.

He immediately ran upstairs as fast as he could, and promptly checked all of the rooms. Empty. All life that was in this house was now void. Something was very wrong. "Maybe we should check our houses to see if we can stay there for a while," I stated.

"Your house is the closest," Will replied.

**page break**

We set out on the relatively short journey. All of the streets were empty, only a few cars remained. It seemed everyone wanted to get out of Freymere. As we came close to my house, I heard noises in the distance. Screams and shrieking, the occasional outcry of pain. Something definitely was not right.

My door was locked. The first of many barriers on this journey. We knocked multiple times with no answer. "Shit" was the first word out of my mouth. There was no way to see what had happened inside, and no way to know if something else was preventing someone from getting to the door.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps from inside. I figure appeared at the windows, and I heard a voice yell "It's Logan!"

"Shhh! You'll attract them!" Another voice snarled.

"Are you alone out there?" The first voice asked.

"I've brought my friends," I replied quickly.

After a series of locking sounds, the door opened to reveal my brothers, Alec and Jason, stood in the doorway, there faces plastered with disbelief. "We thought you were dead."

**page break**

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Come and look for yourself," Alec answered unwillingly.

I followed him through to the living room, where a body in a pool of blood lay sprawled across the floor. This time, I remained silent. My brain could not comprehend what I was seeing, and wanted to believe it was not true. But there was no mistake. This was the body of my father.

"Fuck," I finally said after an eternity of silence. "What is going on?"

"The Cordyceps."

The name shocked me. Everything that had happened leading up to this moment must have been linked to the cordyceps. My eyes watered as I desperately held back tears, and I trembled at the thought that could could have been me if I had stayed. No matter how much you endure, one small thing catches you off guard and you can be dead in an instant. I turned around to see Clara staring down at the body. "Go back outside," I said.

She didn't move. Shock had set in once again. She buried her face in her hands, so I held her arm and gently led her outside to the rest of the group. "Take care of her, I need to go back inside."

I commanded the group, and they followed my order. Only Will looked perturbed by this outcome, as he had previously thought he was in charge.

Walking back inside, my mind tried its hardest to forget about the body. "Where is Mum?" I asked.

Alec pointed towards the kitchen door, and I immediately knew what was behind the wall.

"So you and Jason were the only survivors?"

Alec nodded. "The Cordyceps, the one that wiped out America. It's here. Surely you encountered it on your way here?"

"No. I guess we got lucky." Lucky was an understatement.

"You didn't notice any fire or burning buildings along the way?"

I guessed we had avoided all signs up until now.

**page break**

Someone screamed from outside. I ran out there as fast as I could, my heart racing with adrenalin. An infected was grappling with Alice, violently gnashing at her. As a natural instinct, I ran at the infected, ramming into its side and knocking it on the floor. "Someone hand me something!" I yelled.

Something heavy was placed in my hands, and I immediately swung it over my head and cracked the skull of the infected. Blood sprayed everywhere, making me very uncomfortable given the situation. At least it was dead.

"We can't stay here long. Arm yourselves and let's get moving."

Everyone slowly moved inside to find anything they could use as a weapon, Clara still shocked from these events. The wooden board that someone had handed me was now bent and mostly unusable as a weapon, so instead I walked in and grabbed a knife from the kitchen. One that was long enough to keep the infected away as I stab them.

"Let's go," Will ordered.

We all started our journey to the next closest house; Clara's.


	6. Family First

**Sorry, this took longer than I was expecting it to take. But there is death, and heartbreak with a side order of emotions.**

**Review replies!**

**Lexi/Tigger- You want me to kill you off?**

**Guest #1- Now dubbed Savage :) Glad you like the story, it's nice to see some reviews!**

**Izaya- That's great! Here's an update!**

**Guest #2- Now dubbed Bob :) WOOOH You like it! I call that success!**

**Disclaimer- You got the picture?**

This journey was dangerous. So far, we only had a single encounter with the infected, and our arms were scavenged from a poorly prepared house with few weapons. Fortunately, we had numbers on a side, as well as silence. I took the lead, as everyone thought I would be missed the least. Also I had the most combat experience so far, as if that was what they were thinking. Behind, in this order if I recall correctly, was Naomi, Louise, Hamish, Alice, Will, Clara with Alec and Jason bringing up the rear. We snuck around the streets with the new knowledge that they could come from anywhere.

We turned a corner. I held my hand up to signal a stop. There was a small group of infected looking the other way.

"Alright," I whispered. "We need to coordinate this. I will take out one while Naomi, Louise and Will take out the other three. Be silent, but be quick with no delays. Everyone strike together."

I had thought these situations out many times before in my spare time. Preparing for apocalypses was a hobby of mine.

We crept forwards, careful of our footing and any other sound that may draw their attention. We arrived at our designated infected almost simultaneously. Quickly, I pulled out my knife and punctured his skull. He let out a small shriek before collapsing silently. Looking around, Naomi was still furiously battering a skull with the pipe she had found, and Will had cleanly slit its throat. Louise, however, was struggling with her infected, silently grappling with it.

I ran over, but by the time I got there, she had kicked one of its legs and crushed its skull.

"Lovely," I mumbled, watching the blood pool form around its shattered head.

"To the trees," said Will. "We can approach Clara's house through there without attracting much more attention.

We all followed and crawled through the foliage towards the end of the street.

**page break**

Approaching cautiously, we could see the smashed windows clearly. All the lights in the house were off, except a glint of light coming through the first floor window. I heard Clara choke back a sob and I noticed Louise wrap a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Do you think it's safe to go in?" Hamish asked.

"Doubt it," Alice muttered. "Clara, I don't think they made it."

Clara was shaking her head. "They are okay. Viv's going to be in a cupboard, tucked away and safe and Joe is going to be under the bed and…" She was beginning to babble her words, getting more and more distressed.

"Clara…" Will tried to say, but was cut off.

"They are fine!" she snapped. "We just need to go in to tell them that it's okay now." She was already beginning to walk out of the shelter of the trees.

"Clara, it isn't safe!"

"Come back."

Our cries fell on deaf ears. Clara dropped her rucksack in the road and broke into a sprint towards the house. We all ran after her, Will scooping up the abandoned bag, and we could hear her frantic yells from outside.

The first thing I saw as I entered the house was the body of a woman lying in the corridor. Louise gave a little gasp at the sight and ran forward, falling to her knees in front of the woman. She had dark brown hair and her glasses lay crooked and cracked on her nose. There were bite marks down her arms and blood was still pooling around her.

"It's her mother," she whimpered, placing a shaky hand over the eyes of the lady, closing them gently. Alice darted forward to help Louise up and they carefully stepped over the body.

"We'll check downstairs," Alice told us. "You guys go check upstairs."

Alec led us upstairs, treading carefully in case there were any infected up here. I was surprised when he suddenly stood stock still.

"What is it?" I asked, not able to see round his body.

"I found her."

Shoving Alec out of the way, I was finally able to see Clara, kneeling in front of the body of her brother, who bore similar bites like his mother.

"Joe?" Clara was whispering. "Joe, wake up, please."

Hamish darted forward. "Come on. You've got to leave him."

"No!" she half-shrieked. "No! He's not dead." Hamish was trying to lift her up off the floor, but she swiped a kick to his shin, causing him to drop her back down. "See?" she cried, scooping up her brother's body. "He's breathing and everything."

Hamish tried to lift her again, Alec moving over to help drag the girl who was now beginning to sob uncontrollably.

"Help her downstairs and get her something to drink," I told them. "Naomi, you are the most sympathetic. Could you sit with her, please?"

"Sure," she said, looking dazed herself as she stumbled off behind Alec and Hamish.

"Let's go check the house," I told Will and Jason. "There might be stuff we can take with us."

They nodded, and we tiptoed round the still body that was sprawled on the landing.

Sending Jason and Will into one of the bedrooms, I moved into another, gripping the knife I had grabbed at my house in case there was anything inside, lurking. Scanning the room, I found nothing, but didn't allow my guard to be let down. Noting the bunk bed and the two wardrobes, I figured this was Clara's room, the one that she shared with Viv, her sister, as she often complained about her sister being a nuisance when she was trying to sleep. I poked my nose into one of the wardrobes, finding Clara's clothes. Figuring that we probably wouldn't find many clothes again, I grabbed some t-shirts and jeans out of the wardrobe, ignoring the small pile of dresses that were hung up, knowing they wouldn't be practical. I knew that Louise and Alice would want some more clothes too and I guessed that Clara didn't mind sharing.

I was startled, when I opened the other wardrobe, to find a small girl curled up in the clothes, fast asleep. Noticing that she had features similar to Clara's, I knew this had to be Vivienne. Dumping the heavy bags, I lifted the girl out of the wardrobe and carried her gently downstairs into the living room where Naomi was sitting with Clara.

Clara, who had been sitting rigidly with tears streaming from her eyes, jolted in her seat as soon as she saw me, surprising Naomi. "Viv!" she exclaimed, sprinting over and hauling the girl out of my arms, clutching her tightly. "Oh, Vivi!"

**Sorry about the feels trip... But it had to be done- Jook Tungsten and Irene Phthalo (_I wrote most of this, not Jookoo_)**


	7. What Must Be Done

**Sorry for the delay! We've been busy, but here is more trauma for those who are still bothering to read the fic :)**

**Savage- Feels are necessary and good for you :) Glad you like the name!**

**Bob- Yes, more tragic deaths. Enjoy the next one :) As for whether the characters are based off real people- YES! They are... XD**

We all stood there and watched for a moment, as Clara held her half sleeping sister in her arms. We could tell there was a small sense of hope sparking inside of her, one which had been lacking the past few days. After what seemed like an eternity, she gave up her sister to Naomi walked towards me. She put her arms around me momentarily and whispered "Thank you for finding her. I don't know what I'd have done if no-one had survived."

Walking back to her sister, I noticed something. Her walk looked exhausted, and she needed rest. Something we were unable to provide currently, and something that could come in short supply in the future.

**page break**

"Logan, you may want to see this," Louise called from the kitchen.

Reluctantly, I walked in. "Take a guess at who this is," She said.

On the floor of the kitchen, lay a lifeless body of a man. The man I knew Clara idolised and loved above all others. This news could push her over the edge.

"It's her father," I whispered. "What are we going to do?"

"We have to tell her," she replied.

"No, that could be devastating."

This was a bad situation to be in. She only knew about the death of her mother and brother, and we had no reason to believe she thought her father had escaped. She could still be waiting to see him.

"Are you sure he's dead?" I asked.

"I haven't checked," she looked very nervous.

"We have to, he could be infected."

She nodded, but took a step away. I rolled the body onto its back, and held my hand next to his mouth.

"Shit," I exclaimed. "He's breathing!"

"Why hasn't he done anything then?" Louise was just as panicked as I was.

"Help… me…"

The muffled voice came from the body.

"I can… feel… it growing…"

We both stood there unable to think. I slowly pulled out my knife and backed away, pushing Louise behind me. We just waited for something to happen. After a while, he got up, stumbled towards us, and then ran. He knocked me straight to the floor, dropping my knife in the process. Desperately trying to keep him away, he slowly came closer, biting furiously at the air. It took inhuman amounts of strength just to keep him from biting me, but I was saved. He fell on top of me lifeless. I pushed the now dead body to the side and got up.

**page break**

"What have you done?"

Clara held the knife up to her throat, tears streaming down her face.

"You killed him. You killed your father."

She looked horrified at the events that had just taken place.

"Clara…" I slowly walked forwards.

She thrust the knife in my general direction. "You! You're the reason I did this."

I was terrified. Being stabbed is a fear of mine, especially at the hands of a friend. "He wasn't human, Clara,"

She took no notice. "You made me do this!"

I just stood there, staring at the ground with my hands in the air.

"Don't do anything irrational,"

She just stared at me, breathing heavily, holding the knife out in front of her. I noticed Naomi and Alice were now standing there watching the situation play out. Clara was oblivious, her only focus on me and herself.

Naomi creeped over. "Clara?"

She turned, waving the knife at her and then stopped.

"Hand over the knife, you have no reason to do this."

Clara gave Naomi the knife, looking back over at me. She burst into tears.

**page break**

Nothing is as scary as having your life threatened by someone you thought you could trust. One little thing can change people, make them do something they don't want to, especially in hard times such as what had only just started. Roughly a day in and many of us had nearly died, and things only got worse. We were inexperienced teens with low emotional stability, still learning, still growing. We had a hard road to walk, and others were only going to block our way. Our journey was only just beginning, and our challenge was to make it to the end. The next step: finding the families of the others. We needed to find at least one alive, so we could get some direction, some help. Our best hope, Louise. We knew her family to be tough, and if any were going to survive, we could count on it.

**page break**

Everything had calmed down a few hours later. We were lucky enough not to draw the infected with our noise, but we were worried about it regardless. "Where to next?"

Naomi explained that her family was out of the country, so going there would be useless. Will wasn't bothered about when we got to his house. We were sure he thought them to already be dead.

Louise spoke up: "I may have something that could help us and my family would be happy to share."

She seemed sure her parents were still alive and the idea of more help seemed nice.

"So how do we get there?" I asked.

"I know," said Clara.


	8. One Step Forward

**Ooohh! New Update. Looks like I still have Savage and Bob reviewing.**

**Savage- No more feels for the moment... But they will return, be warned... Bring tissues :)... Louise is a bit of a dipshit, but she is based off our Jellyfish Sister, Lexi, so it is accurate. She becomes more epic as the story continues... **

**Bob- The characters are based off our friendship group and yes, two of them are me and Jook (me as in Irene). Lexi (the other Jellyfish) also features as one of the characters in this story (see above to the Savage response), but the others you won't know. Guess who me and Jook are and I will give you two more chapters as soon as me and Jook can physically write them. You got the scene absolutely correct, according to Jook (it was a Henry and Sam moment).**

**Disclaimer- The rights go to the producers, directors, creators, etc of the LAST OF US. We just like to see what it would have been like for us British twerps! XD**

Grabbing as much stuff as we could cram in the car as well as fitting everyone inside the car vaguely comfortably had been difficult. Eventually, we had organised it so that Will and Alice sat in the front passenger seat together, Alec in the driver's seat being the only one who could drive. Clara, Vivienne, Louise and I were in the middle seats and sitting in the boot with the majority of the rucksacks was Naomi, Hamish and Jason. In every space we could find, we crammed something useful into it. Underneath the seats were potential weapons; garden tools, kitchen knives and so on. In the boot and in the space where our legs should have gone went rucksacks full of clothes, as many as we could grab from the wardrobes in Clara's house.  
>Onwards we went, to Louise's house. The infected seemed very sparse from what we had already encountered, and we had no reason to think it would stay that way.<br>Clara gave directions to Alec while he drove, maneuvering between broken cars and the occasional bit of debris. It seemed to be a much longer journey without being able to pick up speed through the streets.  
>"So what is so useful at your house?" I asked.<br>Louise just looked at me and smiled. "You'll have to wait."  
>"Don't joke around. We need to know what we're dealing with."<br>Once again, she just looked at me and smiled.  
><strong>page break<strong>  
>It felt like a whole day had passed, but it only just started to get dark. We needed to sleep, and Alec couldn't drive forever, however we were now in the middle of nowhere. We were in danger if we left the car, so we had to sleep in a cramped car. I still felt slightly troubled by the events of the day, and so was the last to fall asleep. I ended up with the the weight of roughly 2 bodies piling onto me from the side, not helping matters. Slowly, I drifted to sleep, and forgot about everything momentarily.<br>**page break**  
>I awoke. Everyone was still quietly sleeping, and I had no intentions of waking anyone. Although I would be lying if I said I was okay with having sleep almost on top of me. We had been camping out in the car, Vivienne tucked between Louise and Clara, when we heard the gun shots in the distance.<br>Alice, who had been sleeping against Will in the front passenger seat, jolted awake. We all looked at each other.  
>"That doesn't sound good," Naomi murmured, shifting in the boot to look out the rear window.<br>"We should go," Louise told Alec.  
>He nodded and moved to start the engine, but we could just hear in splutter, refusing to roar into life.<br>"Uh, oh." I turned around to look at Clara, who sat up sharply when she realised that her car wasn't starting. "Do you know what's wrong?" I asked her.  
>"My dad filled it up not that long ago," she said. "It should still have plenty of fuel." She got out of the car, dropping onto all fours, looking under the car.<br>I stepped out to make sure she was safe, listening to the sound of approaching gunshots and yells.  
>Clara got up, looking absolutely furious. "Your brother has bashed the fucking car and broken the fuel pipe so all of our fucking fuel has leaked," she half-yelled.<br>Why she was yelling at me, I don't know. "It's not my fault he barely passed his driving licence," I yelled back. "He is the only one with some skills at driving."  
>She slapped my face, a little unexpectedly. "I could have driven better than Alec," she hissed, her eyes flashing in fury. "That is saying something."<br>I rubbed my face to try and get rid of the sting, opening my mouth to shout back but I heard a scream from the car.  
>"Clara! Logan! Get down!" Alice was shrieking. "Bandits."<br>I took in the sight of the bandits that had appeared in the distance before ducking down behind the shelter of the car, pulling Clara down next to me. Opening the car doors, I helped Vivienne out of the car, sitting her behind the wheel which was slightly more protective. Naomi and Jason chucked some of the rucksacks from the boot over the back seats whilst Louise grabbed some of the makeshift weapons from under the seats. Clara darted round to the back of the car to open the boot for them, darting back quickly out of the firing range.  
>Peering through the windows as everyone scrambled to grab a bag, I noticed that the bandits had broken into a run.<br>"Grab something and move!" I yelled, pushing a now screaming Viv towards Louise, who grabbed her hand, shouldered a rucksack and started to run towards the shelter of the hill that sat a small distance away.  
>Will had grabbed Alice's hand and they sprinted after Louise, closely followed by Naomi and Jason, the five of them carrying the majority of our hoard.<br>Clara, Alec, Hamish and I remained, tucked behind the vehicle, ready to pounce on our enemy.

**OOOHHH, CLIFFAY! **

**Next chapter coming soon! We have half-term _(finally) _so hopefully we will spew out more ideas.**


	9. Two Steps Back

**Aren't we nice?**

**Actually, we're not, because you guys now need to brace yourselves for an intense chapter (I mean it),**

**Review Reply- Lexi, how many times have I told you not to do this? HOW MANY TIMES?! You are a dipshit, Viv likes you, I have a gun, not you in this scene, Clara will always be violent, I fixed the blooper and OF COURSE WILL AND ALICE ARE KINDA CUTE... Well, Will gets annoying, but there we are...**

**DISCLAIMER- You guys should know what we own and don't own by now...**

The first bandit jumped around the car on my side, who was swiftly met with a knife in the neck. I recoiled as both blood and bullets sprayed around, fortunately not wounding anyone. Somehow these bandits had found good weapons, and letting them go to waste was pointless. "Here!" I yelled.

I threw the gun the bandit dropped at Clara, who immediately started spraying bullets in their direction. I heard at least two screams of pain, but the gunshots didn't stop.

Hamish ran away from the car behind a nearby treeline, taking a bullet in the leg just as he reached it. He was now immobilized. His screams had attracted attention away from us momentarily, allowing me another opportunity to strike. I ran behind another bandit and put my knife against his throat, using him as a human shield. The other bandits stopped for a moment, pointing all their weapons at me, contemplating their next shot.

One fell to the ground, blood pouring from their skull. They had forgotten about Clara and Alec. Clara shot another bullet in their direction while Alec ran over to help Hamish up. Another bandit fell before the others focused their fire at Clara. She carried on shooting at them, but quickly found her weapon making loud clicks from the barrel.

I slit the bandits throat and ran over to the next, trying desperately to ignore the blood dripping down my arm. One of them noticed me and fired, narrowly missing my head. His gun made a similar click, causing him to panic. He threw the gun at me, which bounced off the floor, hitting me in the face. The bandit put his foot on my arm, preventing me from moving. He picked up his gun and reloaded, pointing it at my face.

Fortunately, he met a similar fate to his friends. Clara had found another mag on the floor. Now we both had weapons. I dodged back to the car, and we both stood there trying to pick off the remaining bandits.

"Get out of here Alec!" I yelled.

"Cover us, he can't run!" Alec was getting panicked and Hamish didn't seem much better with the wound.

They both set off into the same direction as the rest of the party. They managed to get about half of the way when a stray bullet hit Alec straight through the chest, causing him to collapse. Hamish fell beside him and tried to get up.

"Shit." I ran towards them.

I managed to get Hamish moving again, but now there were more bandits than before. It seemed they had set up a camp somewhere near and the gunshots attracted attention.

We ran and managed to catch up with the group, but I suddenly realised I had left Clara behind. Looking back, she was running in our direction, bullets flying everywhere. She also rejoined us, so we ran to the nearby village.

**page break**

The bandits were keeping up with us and seeing as I dropped my gun to help Hamish, Clara was the only one with a ranged weapon, and even that had limited ammunition.

I rushed everyone inside one of the buildings and shut the door quickly but quietly. Now, however, we had another thing to focus on. An infected jumped out of the shadows and attacked Clara. Swiftly, Will kicked it off her and stamped on its head, the blood pouring from its neck. It was only when we looked towards Clara did we notice that the red liquid was also coming from her arm.

"Ah crap!" she yelled, gazing at the tear, terrified of what would now happen.

"We have to keep moving!" I yelled, helping her up off the floor.

"Forget this shit!" Will replied. "She's bitten! I know enough about zombies to…"

"What if you're wrong Will! What if these aren't zombies-"

I was interrupted by the door being slammed.

"Get moving!"

Everyone began to run through the corridor of the building while I held the door back as long as possible. Viv was lagging behind Hamish slightly, being unable to run as quick as the rest of the party, so Hamish stopped momentarily to pick her up.

The corridor was littered with debris, presumably because of previously being looted by the same bandits now chasing us; bits of broken furniture, planks torn out of walls and other random crap and even some food that was already beginning to mould. They continued to run and I decided it was time to catch up. I covered roughly half the distance they had before the door finally broke down. The bandits ran after us and started firing just as I caught up with the group.

Hamish and Viv began to fall behind as we turned the first corner. For a village, this was a big building. I looked back, and noticed that they hadn't turned the same corner as us.

"Keep running!" I told the others.

I turned back for them, but what I saw wasn't what I expected. Hamish had tripped again due to his leg wound, and landed on a wooden board with nails sticking up from it. They had gone straight through his head. Even worse, the bandits had stopped, and what appeared to be their leader had a knife against Viv's throat, holding her up against his chest.

"Hand yourself over!" He commanded. "And drop your weapon!"

I dropped my knife onto the floor and he took a step forward.

"Now tell your friends to come back."

Viv was screaming, which could only end badly as their leader looked pissed off as it was.

"L-let's just talk ab-out this," I stuttered.

"Tell them to get back here!" He yelled.

"They're gone." I replied.

"Well then I'm-"

He was cut short. Another infected jumped out and bit their leader, causing him to flinch. His arm recoiled, moving his knife to slice through Viv's throat, spraying blood all down the corridor in my direction. She screamed and gurgled, before collapsing, dead.

More infected moved through a door at the bandits, as they fired their weapons trying to keep themselves safe. I picked up my knife and ran after the rest of the group.

I know had about a dozen infected following me, and fighting them was not an option. I could only assume where my friends were in this maze of corridors, but more infected blocked multiple paths. I ran up the only clear staircase while they all continued their relentless chase, stumbling over each other. A few more infected came from the opposite direction, blocking me. There was only one thing I could do now.

**Did we just kill a load of people?**

**Yeah, I think we did.**

**Do we regret it?**

**Nope...**

**Well, I don't. I think Jook's feeling a bit guilty... XD**


	10. Of Oportunities

**Urgh, this took FOREVER!**

**Savage- Yeaah, not Louise's house next. If you want to murder her, do so in your head. She's not dying for some time... :)**

**Bob- Here you go! More Clara angst (I actually love my character... SOOO MUCH!) Yeah, I know we're bastards, but twas necessary... :) Enjoy!**

**Blue Sky- Yeah, about the page breaks, I can't do them (yeah, I'm special... But neither can Lexi nor Jook, so either it is the computers we use or just fanfiction saying it can do it and it really can't... Secondly, I am trying to edit Jook's work (he is the main writer, although I have written some scenes) but I am behind and so far I have only added to the first chapter... I will go through the work when I have more time (which I don't have at the moment) to properly edit and maybe rewrite some sections to add more depth (Sorry Jook, not saying your work is bad, it's just a bit flat, as Blue Sky says). And I have been spell checking as best as possible, but I can't always catch all the mistakes... We are trying, but for now, you'll just have to deal with the silly grammar and stuff... THANKS FOR THE REVIEW! WE LOVE THEM VERY MUCH!**

**Disclaimer- Yeah, you got it by now... Don't own much stuff, just plot and characters... -_-**

I spotted my window of opportunity; That's how everyone refers to it now. With infected blocking the only two exits, the window was the only way out. It smashed easy with the full force of my body flopping through, though I cut my left palm on the glass as I landed, the infected just following me through. Most remained lifeless after hitting the floor, but some managed to land, however awkwardly, and start running in my direction.

I followed and ran in the opposite direction as fast as I could, ignoring the blood trail behind me. I had no weapon, no companions, and no idea where I was, all I could do was run. That's when I spotted my second window of opportunity. I got so lucky in that short space of time. In the corner of my eye, I spotted an open door, and the windows looked barricaded. I changed course straight for it, closed it behind me and locked it as fast as I could. I slumped to the floor, completely out of breath, while infected banged on the other side.

"Daddy!"

**page break**

"Ah shit," I sighed. "I'm so sorry."

A man and what appeared to be his young daughter stood there, scared. He wasn't much bigger than I was and he looked weak, however he held his daughter protectively. He seemed to be intently looking at my hand.

"This?" I asked, holding it up reluctantly.

He nodded slowly, his eyes wide with fear.

"I just cut my hand," I explained. "I mean no harm to you and your daughter, I'm just looking for my group."

"Your group?" he asked.

"Yeah, there were ten of us, now there's seven, including me."

He walked up the stairs holding his daughter by his side and prompted me to follow, which I did. He lead me to a bedroom, which inside, Clara was sleeping in the bed.

"The fuck?" I mumbled.

"You know her?"

"Yeah," I replied. "That's Clara."

"Part of your group?"

"Yeah, can I stay until she wakes?" I asked hesitantly.

"Of course, but then I suggest you leave," He replied. "You're lucky there are good people left in this world."

I nodded, sat on the bed next to Clara, and waited. The clock slowly ticked on the wall, and conversations ran through the floor. As for Clara, nothing. After what could have been hours, she was still unconscious. Eventually, I just closed my eyes. It had been so long since I had undisturbed sleep, it was comforting to know that someone was there that could protect me. I didn't need to worry anymore…

**page break**

I had dreams that night. More vivid than before. Dreams of my friends, turning into those things. Turning on each other.

But then, a light reunites them, brings them back together as one. All those who we already lost rejoin us, and all those who turned just disappear.

I knew it to be complete bullshit, never going to happen. I just couldn't push it from my mind.

**page break**

"Logan?"

Clara had woken up, and seeing me on the floor next to the bed must have startled her slightly.

"Where are we?" she asked.

I looked around, slowly standing up. "We are in a house. If I remember, a very small family lives here. And they requested we leave."

She hesitantly let me help her up, and we shambled downstairs.

"Here, take these." I turned around, the man had filled our bags. I had brought one in and slept near it, but Clara must have collapsed with hers and been found before anyone raided it. "There's roughly a week's worth of food each in these, and I removed none of your possessions. I wish you luck, but I can't help you anymore."

"Thank you," I said. "I hope you and your daughter stay safe." He opened the door for us, and we were on our way. By this time, if we couldn't find the others, we'd have to hope they'd wait a Louise's house.

**page break**

We stopped momentarily just outside of the village, as Clara was beginning to feel weak. "Did you get bitten too?" she asked.

I looked down at my hand. "No, this happen-" and then it occurred to me.

_'Did you get bitten TOO?'_

She was bitten. She was feeling weak. She had previously fainted just like we had already experienced. "You're bitten."

She pulled up her sleeve to reveal a swollen bite mark, stained with blood. As she looked down at it, her face was nervous, but she spoke with certainty that it was fine. "I'm fine Logan. It's not that bad."

"Clara…"

"I'm fine. Let's just find the others as soon as possible."

"You're in no condition to be travelling any further. You wait here, I'll go look around." I went to walk off, but Clara was unhappy.

"We're travelling to Louise's house!" she demanded. "If we don't go now, the others will leave without us!"

This was a side to Clara I hadn't seen before. She was getting slightly violent at this point, and I was in no mood to start a fight with my only companion. "Fine, we'll get going. It's a long journey, but if you're sure-"

"I'm sure. Let's go."

We gladly left the village behind, as it had brought mostly pain and death. I got lucky finding Clara and the unknown man, but luck can't carry you through a catastrophe. The journey to Louise's house was just a road in fields until we found another town, and fortunately she lived near the edge. Clara became tired many times, but seemed to always manage to find the strength to continue. I was worried about her turning on me, however the whole chaos happened in just an evening. I was good at putting things together, so I realized early on that being bitten meant turning within 48 hours, and by the time we got to Louise's house, I was sure Clara was going to be fine.

**Will she turn? Looks like she won't... I wonder why... :)**


End file.
